From the Sea to the Moutain

“Good morning to the Man of the Mountain” said the Woman of the Sea. “It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen you”.

“Good morning to you” said the Man of the Mountain to the Woman of the Sea. “It’s been a very long time indeed”.

The Woman of the Sea looked up to the sky and could see the Man of the Mountain, a face she recognized from all time.

“How long will you climb” she asked?

“As long as it is” he replied.

The Man of the Mountain looked down below the surface of the water and could see the Woman of the Sea, a face he recognized from all time.

“How long will you swim” he asked? “

As long as it is” she replied.

The Woman of the Sea called out to the Man of the Mountain.

“Why don’t you join me?”

The Man of the Mountain came down through forest, to the edge of the sea. As he got close to the shore he remembered the Woman of the Sea and stopped. He could go no further but as he thought about the past, a single tear slipped silently, from his cheek and into the water below.

“Keep me in your thoughts” he called “and it will be when it is”.

The tear did not dissolve in the volume of the sea, but became solid, intact and traveled through the water, through skin and bone to penetrate the heart of the Woman of the Sea.

The Woman of the Sea had been below the surface for a very long time. She had become comfortable there, in the quiet, and did not know how long it had been since she heard the sound of her own name. She knew it was time to come out but the sea tried everything to keep her. The wind stormed, the waves cresting high overhead but the Woman of the Sea felt a draw to the shore like never before.

She wanted to be wild and walk in the forest again.

The Woman of the Sea steadily made her way to the shore and pulled her tired soul up on to the solid ground. The path to the forest was clear and she began to climb, she continued for days, months, years. As she went forward all that had kept her beneath the surface began to slip away, the hurt, the shame, the hands that had stifled her voice for so very long.

All fell aside until she was naked, just her being, a spirit alive in the forest.

She came upon the Man of the Mountain. The man who had always been there but not. She recognized the essence of who he was. He smelled like everything that was familiar to her. The Woman of the Sea thought she wanted to stay and would have done so if but for a single word. Each day she sang her love into the wind, but the time had longed passed for this song.

Now beyond any one word and all words the Man of the Mountain became silent and was gone.

The heart of the of the Woman of the Sea burst and she whispered

"I have and will always miss the love that was once there".

She cried a thousand tears, one for each day she had climbed. So many tears that the level of the sea began to rise up and threatened to pull her back, but the Woman of the Sea vowed to never again to return to the

silence beneath the waves.

She realized she needed to value her own heart, above all else, before climbing for any other.

As only then would she be ready to take those steps.

She thanked the Man of the Mountain for the gift in releasing her from the past and began to clear her own path.

Embracing all that was yet to come in the Forest, the Mountains

and her beloved Sea.

The concept of Archetypes, the theory of the human psyche by Carl Gustav Jung, is defined by universal, mythic charterers that reside within the collective unconscious of all people. The stories that surround us through time without the linearity of time that connects us to the earth, to each other. Not bound by culture, geography or gender these tales have come to symbolize the path, the journey of lives lived. Tales reflective of "climbing the mountain of one’s psyche", "the individualized perception of the intangible concept of love", "surfacing from what holds us back in life" or ”being cast to the depths of the sea". And perhaps what calls out to many of us is finding that connection or return to the earth, to the forest, the mountains, the desert or to the sea. That call or indescribable ache we feel to the return to the basis of our beings. A recognition of the simplicity and synchronicity of that sacred place. Each life so incredibly individualized as to how the journey is processed. Physical or mental pain experienced at any time in our lives can leave lasting implications to how we connect with others or walk each day in this world. Some may carry shame created out of being badly hurt or mistreated and this can manifest for a lifetime without fully realizing the origin. Growth, awakening, ascension can occur when we attempt to merge or recognize the content of the archetypes with one's conscious awareness. It is a place of “knowing” that is elusive for many, as the pace of our modern society does not often provided the time or opportunity to see beyond our eyes. Pain can be temporally relieved or numbed by taking drugs, drinking, writing, music, physical exertion and so on but until fully embraced it is difficult to release it. It is not an easy process and not surprising the depth in which these events can be buried. I now know the moments that have shaped my life and how I have walked each step along the way. I recognize the source of the pain and the often misdirected measures I have taken to avoid facing it. I did not choose to be hurt in such a way, no one would, but how I carry this and the choices I have made are mine to own. I see, I feel, I hear and I live in the energy of the connections that surround my life. How I now move forward with this knowledge in the remainder of time that I’m blessed to be in this beautiful place is yet to unfold, but is also my choice. Jill Denise Fitz